Pro Football RumorsCity Of Oakland – Pro Football Rumorshttps://www.profootballrumors.com
NFL Rumors: Trades, Free Agency, DraftMon, 21 Jan 2019 19:57:10 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.7Raiders To Discuss Playing 2019 In Oaklandhttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2019/01/raiders-to-discuss-staying-at-oakland-coliseum
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2019/01/raiders-to-discuss-staying-at-oakland-coliseum#commentsTue, 15 Jan 2019 01:32:54 +0000https://www.profootballrumors.com/?p=129941After the city of Oakland’s lawsuit against the Raiders and NFL, the chances of the team finishing its lame-duck stay in Oakland decreased significantly. But there remains a chance the Raiders stay in their home market for one more year.

The Raiders will meet with the Coliseum Authority one more time to discuss the team playing at its longtime home stadium in 2019.

“Yes, there still is a possibility that an agreement can be reached. Not sure what the odds are, but still possible,” Coliseum Authority executive director Scott McKibben said, via the Bay Area News Group’s Jon Becker. “Once the Raiders have completed all their research on other places we will sit down and talk one last time.”

A tentative lease for one more Coliseum season existed, per Becker, but the lawsuit nixed that. Said lease was going to more than double the Raiders’ rent for 2019. The Raiders paid $3.5MM in rent this season, Becker reports. Under the tentative agreement, that would have spiked to $7.5MM, with an option to play the 2020 season in Oakland in the event the Las Vegas site was not ready for play yet. The NFL wants the Raiders to make this decision by Super Bowl LIII or shortly after.

The Raiders have not yet discussed a deal with San Diego, but they continue to monitor Qualcomm Stadium as an option, per La Canfora. However, the league office is not sold on that option. Reno, Nev., remains a possibility as well, JLC adds. The London option is now seen as untenable, he notes, adding that Reno would also cause more issues than a season in Santa Clara, Calif., would.

The 49ers still have territorial rights to San Francisco, which could pose a problem for a Raiders season at AT&T Park — located within the San Francisco city limits. But the Raiders are not 100 percent set to move on from their home stadium yet. They remain slated to relocate to Las Vegas for the 2020 season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

]]>9Raiders In Discussions With San Francisco Giants About 2019 Home Sitehttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2018/12/raiders-in-discussions-with-san-francisco-giants-about-2019-home-site
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2018/12/raiders-in-discussions-with-san-francisco-giants-about-2019-home-site#commentsSat, 22 Dec 2018 22:53:50 +0000https://www.profootballrumors.com/?p=127564The city of San Francisco does not have an NFL team playing within its city limits, with 49ers home games being played at the Santa Clara-based Levi’s Stadium.

It’s possible that may change in 2019. The Raiders have engaged in discussions with the San Francisco Giants about playing their home games next season at AT&T Park.

“There has been initial interest expressed in exploring the opportunity of the Raiders playing at AT&T Park … many details would need to be figured out,” the MLB team said in a statement. “The Giants want to do what’s best for Bay Area fans and would be open to the concept just as we hosted Cal Football in 2011 when Memorial Stadium in Berkeley was being renovate.”

With Oakland suing the Raiders, the franchise’s 2019 home is much less certain than it once was. The team’s Las Vegas domed stadium is not scheduled to be ready until 2020, and this suit may scuttle the Raiders’ intentions of playing one more season in Oakland.

A few cities have reached out to the team, Raiders president Marc Badain said (via Vince Sapienza of Fox 5, on Twitter), adding the Raiders intend to speak to a few sites about a solution they hope doesn’t disrupt the team much. Mark Davis said all options remain open.

Davis and Giants CEO Larry Baer were part of discussions for San Francisco to host the 2024 Olympics years back, per ESPN.com’s Paul Gutierrez. While AT&T Park has been mentioned previously, Gutierrez notes other cities — Reno, Nev., Glendale, Ariz., San Diego and a temporary partnership with the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium — remain in play. Oakland also remains an option, in the event a deal can still be brokered. Portland and Seattle have also been mentioned as stopgap solutions, but the NFL appears to view the best solution being the Raiders staying in the Bay Area.

A possible stumbling block to the Raiders playing at the National League stadium is the 49ers having territorial rights to San Francisco. The 49ers would need to consent to the Raiders playing at AT&T Park, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The 49ers have previously expressed that they would be open to the Raiders sharing their Santa Clara stadium but have not addressed a possible scenario where the Raiders play in San Francisco. Davis has not shown much enthusiasm for sharing a stadium with the 49ers.

AT&T Park, which can hold 45,000 fans in an expanded football capacity, is a much closer trek from Oakland compared to Levi’s Stadium. In addition to housing the Cal Golden Bears in 2011, the MLB venue was home for the XFL’s San Francisco Demons in 2001. A bowl game (an event now known as the Redbox Bowl) was also played there from 2002-13. Interestingly, the bowl games and Cal’s home contests in 2011 featured both teams standing on the same sideline, Gutierrez points out.

]]>11Raiders Playing 2019 In Oakland Still An Optionhttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2018/12/raiders-playing-2019-in-oakland-still-an-option
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2018/12/raiders-playing-2019-in-oakland-still-an-option#commentsMon, 17 Dec 2018 23:36:04 +0000https://www.profootballrumors.com/?p=127162Last week’s lawsuit placed the Raiders in a strange situation as what was expected to be their penultimate Oakland season wraps up.

They are considering several cities to be their 2019 home, but Oakland may still be an option, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports. The lawsuit’s timing appears to be a key factor in this process.

The Raiders will face significant backlash from the NFL if they cannot arrive at a solution by Super Bowl LIII, La Canfora reports, with marketing, stadium availability dates and the compilation of the 2019 schedule representing key issues for the league regarding the Raiders. The team will also need NFL approval to leave Oakland for another city next season.

Mark Davis previously expressed little interest in sharing Levi’s Stadium with the 49ers, but JLC adds there is a “strong sense” at the league office the Bay Area will be the best option for the 2019 Raiders. Some NFL executives believe that would be the best solution — that, or the Raiders playing at AT&T Park in San Francisco, where Major League Baseball’s Giants play.

If the Raiders would be interested in playing at the 49ers’ Santa Clara, Calif., stadium, the 49ers would welcome them, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (video link). Reiterating a possible option being San Diego, Rapoport adds Cal-Berkeley is another.

No lease agreement between the Raiders and the city of Oakland exists for 2019, and this lawsuit figures to make talks for one final lame-duck agreement difficult. Although, Davis said at last week’s owners meetings he has not ruled out one final Oakland season. This was initially the plan, prior to the lawsuit. But the team has been exploring alternatives to a 2019 Oakland season for months, JLC writes, adding that the Raiders were “stunned” by Oakland following through with its long-rumored suit.

One more home game remains on the Raiders’ schedule — a Christmas Eve Monday night clash with the Broncos — and it’s uncertain (again) if this finale will be the Raiders’ Oakland sendoff.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

]]>16Raiders Considering Leaving Oakland Early?https://www.profootballrumors.com/2018/12/raiders-considering-leaving-oakland-early
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2018/12/raiders-considering-leaving-oakland-early#commentsWed, 12 Dec 2018 01:57:17 +0000https://www.profootballrumors.com/?p=126723The lawsuit the city of Oakland filed against the Raiders on Tuesday may chase the Raiders out of town a year before they planned.

A high-ranking team official said, via Jason Cole of FanSided (Twitter link), there is “no way” the Raiders will play the 2019 season in Oakland after the lawsuit.

No lease exists for the Raiders to play at Oakland Coliseum next season, and although Mark Daviswanted the team to remain in Oakland for one more season before its 2020 Las Vegas move, the Raiders now appear to be also considering alternatives.

Five or six cities will be considered, per Cole, who adds some of those markets already have NFL teams. The Raiders have been linked to San Diego, San Antonio and Reno thus far. Interestingly, one place they will not consider playing 2019 is Las Vegas. Once believed to be holding UNLV’s Sam Boyd Stadium as an emergency stopgap option, the Raiders will not play there next season because the site is “not workable,” Cole tweets.

Further complicating matters, Cole adds (via Twitter) the Raiders will not share a stadium with the 49ers and are unlikely to play anywhere in northern California in ’19. It’s unknown what the other markets would be, but ESPN.com’s Paul Gutierrez reported Reno, Nev., may be an option (Twitter link). The team is considering making the northern Nevada city its future training camp site.

As for where the Raiders may play next, Cole tweets a few previously unmentioned contenders will be Portland, St. Louis, Seattle and Phoenix. Some of this depends on if the Raiders opt to keep their facility in Oakland and travel to games, but Cole adds (via Twitter) a strong chance now exists the team packs up after this season and moves to its temporary city.

The 49ers showed interest in taking the Raiders in while they await their Vegas dome’s construction, per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area (on Twitter), but Davis did not seriously entertain that possibility.

]]>16City Of Oakland Sues Raiders, NFLhttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2018/12/city-of-oakland-sues-raiders-nfl
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2018/12/city-of-oakland-sues-raiders-nfl#commentsWed, 12 Dec 2018 00:26:38 +0000https://www.profootballrumors.com/?p=126717Set to lose the Raiders for a second time, the city of Oakland filed a lawsuit against the departing team, the NFL and the 31 other franchises on Tuesday.

The city had threatened this action for months, and it could impact where the Raiders play in 2019. Mark Davis‘ preference is for the Raiders to play one more season in Oakland before their Las Vegas stadium is ready, even with a a lawsuit threat. He has not commented on the lawsuit coming to fruition.

“The Raiders’ illegal move lines the pockets of NFL owners and sticks Oakland, its residents, taxpayers and dedicated fans with the bill,” Oakland City Attorney Barbara J. Parker said in a lawsuit that refers to the NFL as “a cartel.” “The purpose of this lawsuit is to hold the defendants accountable and help to compensate Oakland for the damages the defendants’ unlawful actions have caused and will cause to the people of Oakland.”

Davis broke off stadium talks with the city after not making headway in public funding for a new Bay Area facility; those discussions did not advance far. The Raiders then secured a record $750MM in public funds from Nevada, and they received approval from 31 owners for a pending move in March 2017.

The Raiders do not have a lease to play at Oakland Coliseum for the 2019 season, and Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com notes their rent has tripled since a January 2016 handshake agreement to continue play at the 50-plus-year-old venue.

“Emotionally, I would say, why would I give them $3, $4, $5MM in rent that they’re going to turn around and use to sue me?” Davis said during a November ESPN interview. “But, at the same time, if they’ll have us, I can’t turn on the fans. I can’t do it. And this is terrible negotiating I’m doing now. I’m going to get killed. But that’s just the way I am. But, if in fact it does get ugly, and can’t be bridged, we do have options.”

It’s unclear what those options are, but the Raiders have been linked to San Diego and San Antonio. Both of those cities landed Alliance of American Football teams, but each could conceivably be in play for a 2019 Raiders bridge season. However, Gutierrez notes the NFL may well scuttle a three-team southern California setup, even though the league used that arrangement from 1982-94. Davis also does not want the Raiders and 49ers to share Levi’s Stadium for a year, per Gutierrez, who adds that still may be on the table.

]]>12Raiders Hope To Play 2019 Season In Oaklandhttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2018/07/raiders-hope-to-play-2019-season-in-oakland
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2018/07/raiders-hope-to-play-2019-season-in-oakland#commentsSun, 08 Jul 2018 19:47:41 +0000https://www.profootballrumors.com/?p=111642As the second Jon Gruden era begins in Oakland, the Raiders continue to attempt to gain a foothold in Las Vegas while their new stadium is being built. They are going to play in the Bay Area this season, but beyond that, there are no guarantees just yet.

While UNLV’s home venue — Sam Boyd Stadium — was once seen as a possible contingency plan in case the Raiders and Oakland could not make a lame-duck situation work, that no longer appears to be the case. Bonsignore writes no temporary stadium solution exists in Vegas, so unlike the Rams and Chargers, the Raiders are sticking around in their longtime market while their domed site is being constructed. The 2020 season has been mentioned as the goal for that stadium’s unveiling, but Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes that still isn’t certain.

And if the Raiders are unable to come to terms with Oakland on another lease to play at their 50-plus-year-old stadium for the 2019 season, Bonsignore expects San Diego and San Antonio to surface as possible stopgap home sites.

“As far as the gap between the announcement of the move and the actual moving into the stadium, it’s a tough one,” Mark Davis said, via Bonsignore. “But we want to try and bring a championship to the Bay Area, if we do, that will be fantastic. If we don’t, I can assure you we will have given it all we could to make that happen.”

The Raiders in September 2017 were discussing a lease extension with the city of Oakland for a possible plan to play both the 2019 and ’20 seasons there, in the event a construction delay occurs preventing the team from moving to Las Vegas until 2021. But with those talks being reported nearly 10 months ago, and no such agreement known to have taken place, it adds to the uncertainty surrounding the Raiders’ home following the 2018 campaign.

Davis maintains the eventual exit from Oakland will be agonizing, but he doesn’t regret his decision to relocate after Nevada provided the public funding — a record $750MM — Oakland didn’t.

“It all came down to the public entities and where they felt their efforts should be placed. And obviously we didn’t rank No. 1,” Davis said. “(Oakland) took the approach that why should we give you money? And it was never about them giving us money. And I’ve said that a number of times. All we ever asked for was help to stay in the Bay Area. It’s the most beautiful place in the world. We’ve got the greatest fans in the world up there. But we needed a place that would allow us to compete financially with the rest of the NFL.”

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

]]>12NFL Considering Moving Chargers-Raiders Game Out Of Oaklandhttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/10/nfl-considering-moving-chargers-raiders-game-out-of-oakland
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/10/nfl-considering-moving-chargers-raiders-game-out-of-oakland#commentsThu, 12 Oct 2017 21:55:47 +0000https://www.profootballrumors.com/?p=81341The NFL is looking into the possibility of relocating Sunday’s Chargers-Raiders game scheduled to be played at Oakland Coliseum. Contingencies are being discussed because of air quality stemming from the wildfires that have occurred in northern California recently, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

Schefter adds the air quality is currently deemed to have reached an unacceptable level, per an NFL executive, and a decision on this matter is expected soon. As of 8:44pm CT, the game remained scheduled to occur in Oakland, according to the Raiders.

The 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium is an option, with the NFL checking into its availability, according to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic San Francisco (on Twitter). Levi’s Stadium is available, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). The 49ers play a road game against the Redskins this weekend.

Levi’s Stadium is just more than 30 miles south of Oakland Coliseum. The wildfires occurred in areas north of San Francisco, but the 49ers play in Santa Clara, Calif.

Interestingly, San Diego would be open to hosting the game, according to Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune. However, San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer’s office has yet to receive a request of this sort, according to his chief of staff. This scenario would obviously be quite interesting due to the Chargers having bolted San Diego for Los Angeles earlier this year.

Should this game be moved out of the Coliseum, the Raiders would be down to just six regular-season games there. They already have a neutral-site game against the Patriots scheduled for Mexico City this season.

]]>3Raiders Discussing Lease Extension With Oakland Coliseumhttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/09/raiders-discussing-lease-extension-with-oakland-coliseum
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/09/raiders-discussing-lease-extension-with-oakland-coliseum#commentsSun, 24 Sep 2017 22:49:54 +0000https://www.profootballrumors.com/?p=79630The Raiders are signed to play home games at Oakland Coliseum through the 2018 season, but with their Las Vegas venue not set to be ready by 2020 at the earliest, the team is tentatively expected to stay in the Bay Area in 2019 as well.

However, this franchise may go by the “Oakland Raiders” for longer than expected. The Raiders and Bay Area authorities are discussing an extension to the current lease, with Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reporting these talks are about staying in Oakland past the 2019 season.

Issues about stadium construction and with the new arrangement with UNLV, which will share the stadium, have induced the Raiders to consider a fourth season as a lame-duck tenant in Oakland. Unlike the Rams and Chargers in Los Angeles, the Raiders aren’t at the point where a delay their stadium’s unveiling is a certainty, per La Canfora. But talks are commencing with Oakland about a post-2019 partnership. Although, it’s still unclear if the sides have an agreement in place for 2019.

“They’re talking about adding on at least one more year in Oakland,” a source informed La Canfora about a possible 2020 season in northern California.

The NFL insider adds the Raiders might be using a lease extension in their current city as leverage in the UNLV talks — which have become somewhat contentious, prompting the university to hire a pricey lawyer to handle negotiations with the relocating NFL team — but at the same time are coming to grips with the fact they may need a stadium solution for the 2020 season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

]]>1Latest On Derek Carr’s Contracthttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/07/latest-on-derek-carrs-contract
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/07/latest-on-derek-carrs-contract#respondSun, 02 Jul 2017 22:58:12 +0000https://www.profootballrumors.com/?p=70558Derek Carr‘s five-year, $125MM contract makes him the highest-paid NFL player and the first to break the $25MM-AAV barrier. Some of this deal’s specifics — like Carr’s $70MM guaranteed and $40MM fully guaranteed at signing — have been reported, but Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reports some key details in the agreement on Sunday.

Carr received a $12.5MM signing bonus and will make $5MM in 2017 base salary. According to OverTheCap, the 26-year-old quarterback will have a 2017 cap figure of $15.73MM. For the ensuing five years, Carr’s cap figures are as follows: $25MM (2018), $22.5MM (’19), $21.5MM (’20), $22.13MM (’21) and $19.88MM (’22).

As for how the guarantees in these years are structured, Carr picked up a $7.5MM roster bonus on June 30 to add to his 2017 total. For 2018, his $7.4MM base salary is guaranteed for injury only at signing, but Florio reports that will be fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2018 league year. A $15MM roster bonus will come Carr’s way on Day 3 of the ’18 league year as well. That will be paid within 15 days of that March date, per Florio.

In 2019, Carr’s deal is less complicated. He will earn a base salary of $19.9MM for his age-28 season. It’s structured like his ’18 salary, being guaranteed for injury only at signing but fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2019 league year. For 2020, the base pay is $18.9MM, with $2.9MM of that guaranteed for injury at signing. Carr’s 2021 and ’22 bases are worth $19.53MM and $19.78MM, respectively. Both figures are non-guaranteed, according to Florio. Of course, Carr could be operating on his third contract by then.

Where Carr will be playing matters now as well.

With Nevada not having a state income tax and California’s residing at 13 percent, Carr will see more money once the Raiders move to Las Vegas. Florio notes that the uncertain 2019 season — after the Raiders’ Oakland Coliseum lease expires and a year before the earliest date by which Vegas stadium is set to be ready — will bring some variance. If the Raiders stay in Oakland, Carr will pay an additional $2.6MM in taxes for 2019 compared to how this would shake out if the franchise moved to another Nevada site while the domed stadium is being finished.

]]>0Backloaded Deal For Raiders’ Derek Carr?https://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/06/derek-carr-nevada-contract
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/06/derek-carr-nevada-contract#respondThu, 22 Jun 2017 14:43:16 +0000https://www.profootballrumors.com/?p=69927Derek Carr and the Raiders have a new deal which will keep the quarterback in place through the 2022 season. We know that the new money average on the deal – $25MM per year – is an all-time record, but there are other factors which will dictate the true value of the deal. Naturally, the cash flow and nature of the guarantees will tell us a lot about how Carr did in negotiations, but his reps may have also structured his deal with the Nevada state tax code in mind, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

California’s state tax rate is 13.3%. Meanwhile, there is no state tax in Nevada. A backloaded deal could make a lot of sense for Carr and allow him to hang on to millions more in income.

We know that the Raiders plan to play their home games in Oakland for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. In 2019, the team could move to a temporary home in Nevada while waiting for it’s new home to be built, but it’s also possible that they’ll extend their stay in Oakland for one more year. It stands to reason that Carr’s team has opted for less money in the first two years of the new deal (’18, ’19) with a step up in 2020, when the new stadium is projected to open.

It’s not just Carr that will be thinking of the Battle Born State when negotiating a new contract with the Raiders. The same will go for any Raider in extension talks, including Khalil Mack, Gabe Jackson, and Amari Cooper, Schefter tweets.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

]]>0Lease Issue Could Delay Raiders’ Vegas Movehttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/05/lease-issue-could-delay-raiders-las-vegas-move
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/05/lease-issue-could-delay-raiders-las-vegas-move#commentsSat, 13 May 2017 20:13:18 +0000https://www.profootballrumors.com/?p=66780The Raiders received resounding approval to relocate to Las Vegas in March, but the timetable for that trip isn’t certain. And a lease agreement could delay the franchise’s plans.

“In order to approve a lease, you need full membership, and the league has four meetings a year: one in March, one in May, one in October and one in December,” Badain said following a public meeting of the Las Vegas Stadium Authority board. “So, if you miss the May deadline, you push to October, we would lose a year, and everybody wants to get this project going everybody wants to get these guys to work. So we didn’t want to miss that deadline.”

The present plan for the Raiders includes a move into their proposed $1.9 billion domed venue in 2020, but if the team can’t agree on a lease by the May 22 owners’ meetings in Chicago, it faces a prospect of this venture being delayed until 2021. Board chairman Steve Hill expressed confidence the agreement can be finalized, per Cano, who adds a 30-year lease is being discussed. A Thursday board meeting is on the agenda, with the subject of completing this lease front and center, Candee reports.

“The NFL has directly asked us to attempt to have a lease approved by the owners meeting,” Hill said. “There has been no ‘get this done or else’ type of approach on this request.”

The Raiders have a lease option to play in Oakland through the 2018 season, although a possible contingency plan — in case this season goes poorly with the lame-duck team playing in front of a fanbase that again saw the franchise agree to leave — may exist that would allow the Raiders to depart the Bay Area early and play in a temporary venue in Vegas. But UNLV’s Sam Boyd Stadium is not viewed as an NFL-ready site presently, so the above delay could conceivably keep the team in Oakland through 2020.

However, the Raiders’ current city may bail before then. The Raiders want to play in Oakland until their Vegas palace is ready, but Candee reports Coliseum authority officials want to end the parties’ relationship after the 2018 season. That would obviously put the Raiders in a tough spot, with one or two in-between years clouding the process.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

]]>3NFL Helped Raiders Secure Vegas Funding?https://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/04/nfl-helped-raiders-secure-las-vegas-funding
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/04/nfl-helped-raiders-secure-las-vegas-funding#commentsSat, 15 Apr 2017 19:52:02 +0000https://www.profootballrumors.com/?p=62801When the Chargers announced in January they were taking the NFL up on its offer to join the Rams in Los Angeles, the NFL foresaw a possible route to San Diego for the Raiders. The league did not want that, so it shifted focus from helping the Raiders procure a new stadium in Oakland to making sure the Las Vegas deal didn’t fall though, Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr. of ESPN.com report in an expansive story chronicling the Raiders’ move to Sin City.

As the Raiders’ Vegas deal was flailing after the departures of Sheldon Adelson and Goldman Sachs in during the winter, league executives joined Raiders president Marc Badain in contacting Bank of America, according to Van Natta and Wickersham. The company soon replaced Adelson as a backer, injecting new life into the Raiders’ Vegas venture, and pledged a near-$1 billion line of credit to cover cost overruns from the impending stadium construction project.

Jerry Jones also played a role in this key chapter of the Raiders’ relocation process. Mark Davis said to Jones at one point last year, “you screwed me on L.A.” and Jones began to act feverishly to help the Raiders relocate. The Cowboys owner put his full support behind the project, something the league and the Raiders appreciated, according to the ESPN reporters, and attempted to procure financing for the endeavor. But some around the league are concerned with the fallout.

Jones’ push helped bring some owners off the fence, paving the way for the 31-1 relocation vote. But it irked another influential owner. Robert Kraft took exception to Jones’ stake in Legends Hospitality, a merchandise and concessions company that could stand to benefit from the $1.9 billion stadium deal.

Sources told Wickersham and Van Natta that Legends emerged as a contender to partner with the Raiders for nonfootball revenue. Kraft spoke to Adelson, a longtime friend who played a key role in helping secure the Raiders the record $750MM in public money before stepping aside due partially to a falling out with Davis, and told him “Jerry is running wild; I can’t believe this.” Adelson, according to the ESPN reporters, then said he would “kill” the Raiders’ deal in Vegas if Kraft wanted. But Kraft, who had been a backer of the Raiders’ effort, did not want to exercise that prospective option.

Kraft wasn’t the only high-powered NFL figure who was suspicious of Jones’ help here. The Dallas owner helping sway his peers while potentially factoring into the stadium’s finances would cause “a major conflict of interest,” a longtime aide to an NFL owner told ESPN, who added the question of “won’t Mark Davis always be beholden to Jerry Jones?” Bank of America has served as the Cowboys’ bank for 25 years, along with a team sponsor. It’s also the Raiders’ longtime bank.

Davis and NFL executive VP Eric Grubman were working toward different goals, with Davis concentrating solely with Vegas and Grubman working to keep the Raiders in Oakland. Grubman, who also attempted to work with St. Louis last year while Stan Kroenke set his sights on Los Angeles, concluded in December — according to ESPN — Oakland did not have a viable proposal. At that same December league meeting, Badain called Oakland’s proposal a “political, cover-your-ass joke” and said in October, per ESPN, “it would have been better if (Oakland) had offered nothing.”

“The stadium proposals received from Oakland are dependent on various contingencies and involve a number of significant uncertainties that membership concluded cannot be solved in a reasonable time,” the league’s statement on the Raiders’ relocation reads (via Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com, on Twitter), also citing the lack of Oakland progress in a two-year period after the league denied relocation applications in 2015 and placed the Raiders behind the Rams and Chargers in the Los Angeles pecking order a year later. “The proposal to relocate to Las Vegas involves a clearly defined and well-financed proposal for a first-class stadium.”

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

]]>5AFC West Rumors: LT, Raiders, San Antoniohttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/03/chargers-tomlinson-raiders-san-antonio
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/03/chargers-tomlinson-raiders-san-antonio#commentsThu, 30 Mar 2017 14:10:06 +0000https://pfr.traderumors.com/?p=61169LaDainian Tomlinson has joined the Chargers as a “Special Assistant to the owner of the team,” according to a press release. It sounds like Tomlinson will not have a part in front office decisions as his job will focus more on fan relations. His presence could help smooth over tensions with San Diegans who are feeling scorned by the team’s relocation to Los Angeles.

“L.T. is one of the most beloved and iconic Chargers of all time,” said Chairman Dean Spanos in the statement. “His active involvement in our fight for Los Angeles is vital, and he represents the very best of what it means to be a Charger on the field and in the community.”

Here’s more from the AFC West:

It sounds like we won’t see major progress in the Raiders‘ extension talks with Derek Carr until May or later. “He knows what we’re trying to do in free agency, and he’s never saying, ‘I need to know now. It’s not like that,” GM Reggie McKenzie said, according to Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com. “More likely, the serious talks will happen after the draft. The communication has been ongoing, just talking about the philosophy of a contract and the thought process around it. Hopefully when the serious talks start going, then it’s going to be easier.” McKenzie also indicated that an extension could be on the way for right guard Gabe Jackson. The Raiders will also discuss a new deal with Khalil Mack, but they have more time on that front thanks to his option for the 2018 season.

Multiple cities have reached out to the Raiders expressing interest in being their temporary home, including San Antonio, Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News tweets. It’s possible that we could see the Raiders make a pit stop on the way from Oakland to Las Vegas.

]]>6NFL Approves Raiders’ Move To Las Vegashttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/03/nfl-approves-raiders-las-vegas
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/03/nfl-approves-raiders-las-vegas#commentsMon, 27 Mar 2017 18:10:04 +0000https://pfr.traderumors.com/?p=60870NFL owners have voted to approve the Raiders’ proposed move to Las Vegas, Nevada. With at least 24 votes in favor of the relocation, the road has been paved for the Raiders to leave town and start anew in Sin City. The final tally was 31-1, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link), with the Dolphins as the only nay vote.

For many Bay Area fans, this is a crushing blow. The Oakland Raiders were born in 1960 as a member of the revolutionary American Football League. The city of Oakland lost its team in the early 1980s when it migrated to Los Angeles, but the Raiders returned for the 1995 NFL season. Now, more than 20 years later, the Raiders are leaving all over again and, this time, it’s probably for good.

On Monday morning, Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf asked the NFL to hold off on voting, but that was a low-percentage shot in the dark likely designed to try and salvage Schaaf’s standing with dejected Raiders fans. Owners reportedly still like the Bay Area as an NFL market, but they did not agree with Schaaf’s assertion that Oakland has put forward a viable stadium solution. The Raiders have secured a record $750MM in public money for their new LV digs and that will be a major bargaining chip for the league in its future efforts to get stadiums built with taxpayer funds.

Even with the green light from NFL owners, it remains to be seen where the Raiders will play their games between now and when the $1.9 billion stadium is built. The Raiders will play in Oakland in 2017 and they have pledged to play there in 2018 as well. However, if the local fan reaction is too much for the Raiders to withstand, they may want to blow the popsicle stand early. UNLV’s Sam Boyd Stadium could serve as a temporary host for the team, but it will probably need upgrades to meet league standards. If things go south this year in Oakland, those upgrades will have to be in place sooner rather than later.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

]]>21Oakland Asks NFL To Delay Las Vegas Votehttps://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/03/oakland-raiders-las-vegas
https://www.profootballrumors.com/2017/03/oakland-raiders-las-vegas#commentsMon, 27 Mar 2017 16:49:28 +0000https://pfr.traderumors.com/?p=60862The mayor of Oakland is asking NFL owners to hold off voting on the Raiders’ proposed move to Las Vegas, as Josh Dubow of The Associated Press writes. The league is set to hold a vote during this week’s meetings in Arizona and it is said to be at the top of the agenda.

“Never that we know of has the NFL voted to displace a team from its established market when there is a fully financed option before them with all the issues addressed,” Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a statement, adding that the city has put forth a $1.3 billion plan for a new stadium that would be ready in five years. “I’d be remiss if I didn’t do everything in my power to make the case for Oakland up until the very end.”

At this point, “everything” in Schaaf’s power doesn’t include much. The city of Oakland has declined to build the Raiders a new state-of-the-art stadium largely bankrolled by public funds. Local government has instead opted to back a brand new facility for the Oakland A’s, leading the Raiders down the Vegas path. Meanwhile, owners seem to have made peace with concerns about legalized gambling in Nevada and how it could potentially affect the integrity of the game.

If 24 of the league’s 32 owners approve the Raiders’ relocation to Las Vegas, very little will stand in the way of the move. That vote is scheduled to go down in a matter of moments and Schaff’s last-ditch effort probably won’t buy her additional time.